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Thursday, February 5, 2015

Scott Walker, Wisconsin Public Radio, and The Taliban

In the vast cultural wasteland that is commercial radio, I
sometimes bounce from one channel to the next in search of something that
doesn’t offend me on multiple levels. I go from one station where Ted Nugent is
glorifying having sex with underage girls and ZZ Top is singing about having
sex with prostitutes only to find the same songs played shortly after on the
next station. I hear DJs that can’t seem to find a topic of conversation that
doesn’t involve poop or body parts. But then I discovered Wisconsin Public
Radio. Sure, I guess I always knew it was there at the end of the dial, but I
never really listened. Until I did. And the more I listened the more I realized
there was nothing else on my dial that could remotely compare to it. It was
intelligent conversation between opposing viewpoints that maintained a degree
of respect for the other as well as the listener. It was humor that had a
degree of sophistication and a lack of cruelty. I could hear world music, the
blues, classical, jazz, folk and all kinds of variety that is lacking elsewhere
on my radio dial. It was old time radio programs being rebroadcast and advice
on gardens and all the important speeches of the day.

It was all the things that The History Channel and A&E
and CNN and others were supposed to be but weren’t. I’ve heard entire hour long
programs dedicate to various founding fathers, Aristotle’s influence on
science, and Ornette Coleman’s album A Love Supreme.

And it was free! It was free and so it was available to
everyone with a radio, which is pretty much everyone. I like knowing that people
have this option. I like to think people who are looking for something more
than scatological humor and three chord tunes have some place to turn. Not only was WPR free of charge
but free of commercials. Think for a moment of how often your consciousness is
invaded by commercials and you will appreciate how much that one distinction is
worth. Advertising shouts at you from billboards as you drive down the street,
call to you from the corner of your Facebook page, and annoy you every few
moments while watching TV or listening to commercial radio.

It is the one, the only, alternative to commercial radio.
There is nowhere else to go, no other state culture outside the mainstream. And
of course Scott Walker had to go after it. Of course he said it was nothing
personal, but decisions had to be made.

I can’t help feeling that Scott Walker’s decision to defund
Wisconsin Public Radio is comparable to the Taliban’s need to blow up the
statues of Buddha in Afghanistan. Seriously. The mindset is: let’s blow it up
because we don’t understand it. Let’s blow it up because it offends our small
little understanding that we dogmatically follow. And at least part of the
reason for both the Taliban and Scott Walker is: blowing stuff up is fun. I
like to blow stuff up. It makes me feel powerful, makes me feel like a man.

It’s an overly patriarchal view of the world that believes
everybody must be punished. This isn’t an attack on masculinity or men, it is
an attack on an unhealthy perversion of masculinity, one nurtured on a
philosophy that qualities such as kindness and unity are weaknesses, that
everyone is out to get me and that I’ve got to get them first. It’s the belief
that even the smallest bit of sharing or charity is a sin that will spread
weakness and dependency like ebola.

Scott Walker, if you cannot appreciate the value of
Wisconsin Public Radio, there is something wrong with you. Not only is it valuable on its own, it set Wisconsin apart, was a jewel in its crown. WPR provides us with
culture, which is something utterly lacking in commercial media. And culture is
important to society, as important to society as a pancreas is to the body,
although both are difficult to explain to someone who is uninterested in
knowing.

Great societies need culture. It is the glue that holds a
people together. It provides a pool of knowledge and viewpoints and gives us
something from which to build a common vision. But we are heading into a new
dark age, and that is not the bold new idea you want to propose.

You don’t have to enjoy something yourself to acknowledge
its benefit to society. I seldom drink water straight from the tap but I’m glad
it’s there and safe for those who need it. And I’m willing to pay so that it
stays that way. For everybody.

And if you believe in the trickle down theory, that by
giving to the top it will filter down to the rest of society, know that it is
true for culture. When those interested in history and current events are given
a source of information, they will help disseminate that information to
everyone they come in contact with. But if you insist on tearing down
everything that does not easily fit in with your narrow view of the world,
history will more likely compare you to the Taliban than any great visionary. I have the same feeling in my heart now regarding WPR as I did then about the statues of Buddha, that a cultural treasure was being destroyed by narrow-minded fanatics.

4 comments:

Spot on. Wonderful. Although, I'd say, from a musical standpoint, that Zz Top and Ted Nugent are part of the 1% that "made it" in music because they are very musically talented, but your point stands nonetheless. Taking away knowledge, and the ability to gain knowledge for the purpose of free-thinking, IS terrorism, in a sense. Restrict the flow of information to YOUR information, keep the sheep in their places. Its a small step towards the annihilation of accessibility.

I think the comparison to the Taliban was that they are willing to destroy something beautiful merely because it does not fit their rigid and narrow view of the world. I want to be clear that I did not use the word terrorism, because I don't want my argument to be dismissed on those grounds. But thanks for sharing and caring.

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The Amazing MorseThe Amazing Morse is a blog dedicated to my works of fiction, primarily my first series, The Amazing Morse. My postings will be either from my own perspective or that of my character Dave Morse.